1. Freudian & Humanistic Theories
Module 19
Freudian & Humanistic Theories

2. FREUD’S PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY
Definition
Freud’s Psychodynamic Theory of Personality
emphasizes the importance of early childhood experiences, unconscious or repressed thoughts that we cannot voluntarily access, and the conflicts between conscious and unconscious forces that influence our feelings, thoughts, and behaviors

3. FREUD’S PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY (CONT.)
Conscious Versus Unconscious forces
Conscious thought
wishes, desires, or thoughts that we are aware of, or can recall, at any given moment
Unconscious forces
wishes, desires, or thoughts that, because of their disturbing or threatening content, we automatically repress and cannot voluntarily access
Unconscious motivation
Freudian concept that refers to the influence of repressed thoughts, desires, or impulses on our conscious thoughts and behaviors

4. FREUD’S PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY (CONT.)
Techniques to discover the unconscious
Free association
technique in which clients are encouraged to talk about any thoughts or images that enter their head; the assumption is that this kind of free-flowing, uncensored talking will provide clues to unconscious material
Dream interpretation
technique of analyzing dreams, is based on the assumption that dreams contain underlying, hidden meanings and symbols that provide clues to unconscious thoughts and desires

5. FREUD’S PSYCHODYNAMIC THEORY (CONT.)
Techniques to discover the unconscious
Freudian slips
mistakes or slips of the tongue that we make in everyday speech; such mistakes, which are often embarrassing, are thought to reflect unconscious thoughts or wishes

6. DIVISIONS OF THE MIND Id, ego, and superego
Freud divided the mind into three separate processes
each has a different function
interactions among the id, ego, and superego result in conflicts

7. p436 ID EGO SUPEREGO

8. DIVISIONS OF THE MIND (CONT.)
Id, ego, and superego
Id: pleasure seeker
first division of the mind to develop
contains two biological drives: sex and aggression
id’s goal is to pursue pleasure and satisfy the biological drives
Pleasure principle
id operates according to the pleasure principle
satisfy drives and avoid pain, without concern for moral restrictions or society’s regulations

9. DIVISIONS OF THE MIND (CONT.)
Id, ego, and superego
Ego: executive negotiator between id and superego
second division of the mind, develops from the id during infancy
ego’s goal is to find safe and socially acceptable ways of satisfying the id’s desires and to negotiate between the id’s wants and the superego’s prohibitions
large part of ego is conscious
smaller part is unconscious
Reality principle
satisfying a wish or desire only if there is a socially acceptable outlet available

10. DIVISIONS OF THE MIND (CONT.)
Id, ego, and superego
Superego: regulator
third division of the mind
develops from the ego during early childhood
superego’s goal is to apply the moral values and standards of one’s parents or caregivers and society in satisfying one’s wishes
moral standards of which we are conscious or aware and moral standards that are unconscious or outside our awareness

11. DIVISIONS OF THE MIND (CONT.)
Anxiety
uncomfortable feeling that results from inner conflicts between the primitive desires of the id and the moral goals of the superego
id, superego conflict
ego caught in the middle
ego’s continuous negotiations to resolve conflict causes anxious feelings
ego uses defense mechanisms to reduce the anxious feelings

12. DIVISIONS OF THE MIND (CONT.)
Defense mechanisms
Freudian processes that operate at unconscious levels and that use self-deception or untrue explanations to protect the ego from being overwhelmed by anxiety
Two ways to reduce anxiety:
can take realistic steps for reducing anxiety
use defense mechanisms to reduce anxiety

13. DIVISIONS OF THE MIND (CONT.)
Defense mechanisms
Rationalization
involves covering up the true reasons for actions, thoughts, or feelings by making up excuses and incorrect explanations
Denial
refusing to recognize some anxiety-provoking event or piece of information that is clear to others
Repression
involves blocking and pushing unacceptable or threatening feelings, wishes, or experiences into the unconscious

14. DIVISIONS OF THE MIND (CONT.)
Defense mechanisms
Projection
falsely and unconsciously attributes your own unacceptable feelings, traits, or thoughts to individuals or objects
Reaction formation
involves substituting behaviors, thoughts, or feelings that are the direct opposite of unacceptable ones
Displacement
involves transferring feelings about, or response to, an object that causes anxiety to another person or object that is less threatening

15. DIVISIONS OF THE MIND (CONT.)
Defense mechanisms
Sublimation
type of displacement, involves redirecting a threatening or forbidden desire, usually sexual, into a socially acceptable one

16. DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES Development: dealing with conflict
Psychosexual stages
five developmental periods-oral, anal, phallic, latency, and genital stages
each marked by a potential conflict between parent and child
conflicts arise as a child seeks pleasure from different body areas that are associated with sexual feelings
erogenous zones

17. DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES (CONT.)
Fixation: potential personality problems
occur during any of the first three stages
Oral
Anal
Phallic
refers to a Freudian process through which an individual may be locked into a particular psychosexual stage because his or her wishes were either overgratified or undergratified

18. DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES (CONT.)
Five psychosexual stages
Oral stage
lasts for the first 18 months
pleasure seeking activities include: sucking, chewing, and biting
Fixation
adults who continue to engage in oral activities, such as overeating, gum chewing, or smoking; oral activities can be symbolic as well, such as being overly demanding or “mouthing off”

19. DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES (CONT.)
Five psychosexual stages
Anal stage
late infancy: one and a half to three years
a time when the infant’s pleasure seeking is centered on the anus and its functions of elimination
Fixation
results in adults who continue to engage in activities of retention or elimination
retention: very neat, stingy, or behaviorally rigid
elimination: generous, messy, or behaving very loose or carefree

20. DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES (CONT.)
Five psychosexual stages
Phallic stage
early childhood: 3 to 6 years
infant’s pleasure seeking is centered on the genitals
Oedipus complex
process in which a child competes with the parent of the same sex for the affections and pleasures of the parent of the opposite sex

21. DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES (CONT.)
Oedipus complex: boys
discovers that his penis is a source of pleasure
result: feels hatred, jealousy, and competition toward his father and fears castration
resolves the complex by by identifying with his father

22. DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES (CONT.)
Oedipus complex: girls
penis envy: girl discovers that she does not have a penis and feels a loss
loss makes her turn against her mother and develop sexual desires for her father
resolves fixation by identifying with her mother

23. DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES (CONT.)
Five psychosexual stages
Latency stage
middle to late childhood: 6 to puberty
time when the child represses sexual thoughts and engages in nonsexual activities, such as developing social and intellectual skills
puberty
sexuality reappears

24. DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES (CONT.)
Five psychosexual stages
Genital stage
puberty through adulthood
time when the individual has renewed sexual desires that he or she seeks to fulfill through relationships with other people
conflict resolution depends on how conflicts in the first three stages were resolved

25. FREUD’S FOLLOWERS & CRITICS
Carl Jung
Jung was a devoted follower of Freud until about 1914
split with Freud was that Jung disagreed with Freud’s emphasis on the sex drive
believed the collective unconscious and not sex to be the basic force in the development of personality
Collective unconscious
consists of ancient memory traces and symbols that are passed on by birth and are shared by all peoples in all cultures
Analytical Psychology
Jung’s elaborate theory of personality

26. FREUD’S FOLLOWERS & CRITICS (CONT.)
Alfred Adler
contemporary of Freud
voiced disagreement with Freud at one of the society’s meetings
Adler disagreed with Freud’s theory that humans are governed by biological and sexual urges
Adler proposed that humans are motivated by social urges
each person is a social being with a unique personality
Adler formed his own group
philosophy became known as “individual psychology”
we are aware of our motives and goals
have the capacity to guide and plan our futures

27. FREUD’S FOLLOWERS & CRITICS (CONT.)
Karen Horney
trained as a psychoanalyst
her career peaked after Freud’s death
dean of the American Institute of Psychoanalysis in New York
objected to Freud’s view of women being dependent, vain, and submissive because of biological forces and childhood sexual experiences
took issue with Freud’s idea of penis envy

28. FREUD’S FOLLOWERS & CRITICS (CONT.)
Karen Horney
personality development, (women or men) can be found in child-parent social “interactions”
Horney theorized that:
child-parent conflicts are avoidable if the child is raised in a loving, trusting, and secure environment
founded the psychology of women

29. HUMANISTIC THEORIES Three characteristics of Humanistic theories
Phenomenological perspective
your perception or view of the world, whether or not it is accurate, becomes your reality
Holistic view
personality is more than the sum of its individual parts; instead, the individual parts form a unique and total entity that functions as a unit
Self-actualization
refers to our inherent tendency to develop and reach our true potentials

30. HUMANISTIC THEORIES (CONT.)
Maslow: need hierarchy and self-actualization
Hierarchy of Needs
arranges needs in ascending order
biological needs at the bottom and social and personal needs at the top
Maslow’s hierarchy:
must satisfy biological safety needs before using energy to fulfill your personal and social needs
devote time and energy to reach true potential, called self-actualization

31. p443 MASLOW’S HIERARCHY NEEDS

32. HUMANISTIC THEORIES (CONT.)
Maslow: need hierarchy and self-actualization
Self-actualization
refers to the development and fulfillment of one’s unique human potential
Characteristics of self-actualized individuals
perceive reality accurately
independent and autonomous
prefer to have a deep, loving relationship with only a few people
focus on accomplishing their goals
report peak experiences (moments of great joy and satisfaction)

33. HUMANISTIC THEORIES (CONT.)
Rogers: self theory
also called self-actualization theory
based on two major assumptions:
personality development is guided by each person’s unique self-actualization tendency
each of us has a personal need for positive regard
Roger’s self-actualization tendency
refers to an inborn tendency for us to develop all of our capacities in ways that best maintain and benefit our lives
relates to biological functions
meeting basic need for food, water, and oxygen

34. HUMANISTIC THEORIES (CONT.)
Rogers: self theory
Psychological functions
expanding our experiences, encouraging personal growth, and becoming self-sufficient
Self or self-concept
refers to how we see our describe ourselves
positive self-concepts
tend to act, feel, and think optimistically and constructively
negative self-concepts
tend to act, feel, and think pessimistically and destructively

35. HUMANISTIC THEORIES (CONT.)
Rogers: self theory
Positive regard
includes love, sympathy, warmth, acceptance, and respect, which we crave from family, friends, and people important to us
Conditional and unconditional positive regard
Conditional positive regard
refers to the positive regard we receive if we behave in certain acceptable ways, such as living up to or meeting the standards of others

36. HUMANISTIC THEORIES (CONT.)
Rogers: self theory
Unconditional positive regard
the warmth, acceptance, and love that others show you because you are valued as a human being, even though you may disappoint people by behaving in ways that are different from their standards or values or the way they think
Importance of self-actualization
Rogers recognized that:
our tendency for self-actualization may be hindered, tested, or blocked by a variety of situational hurdles or personal difficulties

37. HUMANISTIC THEORIES (CONT.)
Rogers: self theory
Unconditional positive regard
we will experience the greatest self-actualization if we work hard and diligently to remove situational problems, resolve our personal problems, and hopefully, receive tons of unconditional positive regard